Franz Schubert spent the first five years of his life in the small apartment now known as Schubert Geburtshaus (Schubert’s Birthplace), and today this modest home holds an eclectic collection of personal items and memorabilia. Use your Vienna Sightseeing Flexi Pass to enter and admire portraits of Schubert (plus the composer’s trademark spectacles depicted in each work). You can also sit at Schubert’s desk to listen to recordings of his works, admire an antique piano once owned by the family, and peruse personal documents.
This deep dive into Schubert’s life is most interesting for serious fans of classical music, though the apartment also offers a glimpse into how Austrian families lived in the 18th century.
There is some general signage in English, but most of the labels with information about the individual displays and objects are in German.
There is a small selection of Schubert-related souvenirs at the ticket office, though no independent gift shop or cafè.
The museum exhibits are located in the family’s former apartment on the upper floor of this historic building, inaccessible to wheelchairs or strollers.
Though the museum lies a bit outside of central Vienna—the area was once a separate village but has been absorbed by the advancing city over the centuries—it is relatively easy to reach via public transit. Take the metro line U2 to the Schottentor station, then transfer to tram lines 37 or 38 to the Canisiusgasse stop.
This relatively quiet, off-the-tourist-track museum is the perfect escape from the urban bustle that takes over Vienna in the busy summer months. Keep in mind that the museum is closed on Mondays and some holidays, so check the opening hours before making the trip from downtown Vienna.
Vienna is home to a unique pairing of residences-turned-museums that bookend Schubert’s life. Marking his birth and childhood years, Schubert Geburtshaus is set in the composer’s first family home in an area that’s now part of Vienna’s suburbs. The Schubert Sterbewohnung, located in the heart of the city, is instead where the composer lived out his final days in his brother’s apartment and where he died at just 31 years of age.
